In this 2009 file photo, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus elephants pass under a freeway bridge during their walk to the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The pre-dawn pachyderm march, a decades-old tradition for the circus, could end due to a city ban on the use of bullhooks in the wrangling of elephants. (AP Photo/Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey, Stefano Paltera, File)

Concerned about cruelty to elephants, Los Angeles city officials moved Wednesday to ban bull hooks, a move that could end the annual Ringling Bros. show at Staples Center.

Swayed by graphic undercover video showing elephants being prodded with the tools, City Council members unanimously backed a ban on the steel-pointed rod resembling a fireplace poker. The tool is used to inflict pain on the animals, argued City Councilman Paul Koretz, who has sponsored numerous laws in support of animals’ rights.

“It causes great harm and great pain to elephants,” said Koretz, who held a bull hook aloft as he spoke on the council floor.

With the vote, the City Council ordered a draft ordinance, which must return to the council for a final vote. If ultimately approved, the ban would take effect in three years.

With the move, Los Angeles is set to become only city in the country to ban the bull hook. Animal activists contend the tools are cruel, and point out that progressive zoos and habitats ban their use.

The city’s action drew immediate condemnation from Ringling Bros., which has performed in Los Angeles since 1922 and currently hosts a weeklong show at Staples Center every summer.

Stephen Payne, a spokesman for Ringling’s parent company, Feld Entertainment, said the company is weighing whether to change its practices or end its performances in Los Angeles. Payne called the ban “completely unnecessary.”

A key part of promoting the show is a pre-dawn “elephant walk” through downtown.

The tools are used to guide the elephant, but are not inhumane, Payne said. He likened a bull hook to an “extension of a trainer’s arm.”

“Regulations like this are an insult for the people who care for animals,” Payne said.

Dozens of activists, including actress Lily Tomlin, gathered outside City Hall to celebrate after the ban. Tomlin expressed dismay the ordinance won’t take effect for three years, but called it a victory for animals.

“This is a wonderful step toward the end of this kind of inhumane treatment of all animals,” Tomlin told reporters. “Particularly elephants at the moment.”

“Maybe they will see that it is not even good to have an elephant performing,” she added, echoing some activists’ call for a ban on exotic animals in the circus.

The city’s action also drew criticism from union members who work at Staples Center. Local Unite Here 11 member Michael Kelly, a part-time worker at Staples Center, said he relies on the summer show. If Kelly doesn’t reach 80 hours a month, he will lose his health benefits, he said.

“I’ve seen the circuses, I’ve never seen an animal get hurt,” said Kelly, a West Adams resident. “I’m sure the bull hooks are there for safety reasons.”

The direct revenue loss of the annual Ringling Bros. show to the city is a few thousands dollars in permitting fees, Koretz estimated.

But Payne estimated that the total hit to the city’s overall economy, including tourism, would be around $1 million.